


heart strings

by sunset_phantom



Series: relight that spark [1]
Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: Bar Room Brawl, Breaking and Entering, F/M, First Dates, Fluff, Protective Ray, Ray is a Star Wars nerd for reasons, Ray loves Rose like Luke loves Julie, Running from cops, Victoria is also a minor character in this, secretly so is Rose, these two are absolute chaos, two backstories for the price of one
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-12
Updated: 2021-01-12
Packaged: 2021-03-16 03:27:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,547
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28699890
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunset_phantom/pseuds/sunset_phantom
Summary: "But this was Ray Molina, whose first date with Rose had involved a small amount of breaking and entering as well as a large amount of running from cop cars and stealing kisses while hiding in alleyways. Rose had never met a rule worth following, and it was part of the reason Ray had fallen in love with her in the first place."***Or the story of how Ray fell in love with Rose.
Relationships: Julie Molina's Mother/Ray Molina, Ray Molina & Rose
Series: relight that spark [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2103810
Comments: 13
Kudos: 22





	heart strings

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Courty](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Courty/gifts).



> This was written from a throwaway line in my fic find the strength, find the melody, but it can also be read as a standalone! Fic title is from Heart Strings by Oh Wonder.
> 
> Courty - thank you so much for the inspo to actually explore this scene! I enjoyed writing this more than I expected to and it turned into a much bigger backstory that I really love! If you have an AO3 account let me know, I would love to gift this to you<3
> 
> Rated M for brief sexual harassment, an almost bar fight, breaking the law, language, and some steamy alleyway moments.  
> **to skip the SH go from "She was already twirling away, and Ray felt himself relax slightly." to "The words were a battle cry..."**

Ray Molina had always prided himself on being a go-with-the-flow type of guy. He wasn’t a doormat, not by any means. He had simply found that there wasn’t much life could throw at him that couldn’t be conquered by just wading through the muck to get to the other side. That didn’t mean that he sought out life’s difficulties though. The ultimate goal was to take things as easy as possible, while still managing to stay true to himself. He mostly kept to the middle of the road. Not so boring and stiff that he couldn’t get down with a good time but keeping his head enough to stay out of any real trouble. Meeting Rose had changed that in an instant.

Rose was not a go-with-the-flow type of woman. She was a whirlpool unto herself. She was the moon, commanding the tides and setting waves to rise and crash however she wanted them to. There was no flow for Rose to follow because she was the one driving the current. Which should have made it easy for Ray to simply fall into her and float his way along. But Rose was not a woman who did easy. It had been one of the first things he learned about her, watching her scramble down from a bar top, fists swinging out as if she was ready to take on the world.

He had been nursing a beer in a booth at his neighborhood bar, waiting on some of his friends to show up for their usual Friday night hangout. The bar wasn’t as rowdy as it could get, the night still somewhat young at 10:30 pm. The only commotion had been a small group of young women. It was clear one of them was celebrating something, rounds of shots being called for every few minutes followed by squealing and cheering. At one point there was a sloppy rendition of happy birthday sung, so it was easy to guess the one sporting a hot pink sash must be the birthday girl. He watched, amused, as another woman with similar hair attempted to cajole her into climbing onto the bar top. The other women had melted away to various corners, the party winding down to just the two of them. The birthday girl laughed and pulled away, shaking her head. Ray dipped his head to take another sip of beer, and then felt his gaze pulled up by a flurry of movement. The other woman, whose hair had now been tied up to show off an elegant neck and dimpled cheeks, was standing on the bar.

“Rosa!”

The birthday girl shrieked, laughing as she lunged towards the bar. Ray was mesmerized as he watched the woman throw her head back and let out a boisterous laugh. Her lips stretched wide, eyes sparkling in delight as she sidestepped the birthday girl’s grabbing hands and began to dance. She shimmied her hands up into the air, swinging her hips back and forth. Ray felt his mouth go dry. He really should stop watching her, but she was like a siren, drawing him in with her breathy giggles and shifting steps.

“C’mon, Vicky! Live a little!”

The birthday girl cringed at the nickname. Her hands fisted on her hips, but the woman on the bar, _Rosa_ , didn’t stop moving.

“Don’t make me dance alone _cosita_!”

Ray couldn’t help but chuckle. From the look on the birthday girl’s face, he didn’t think she liked that nickname any more than the last. She opened her mouth to say something back, but Ray’s vision was cut off by a larger body moving off of a barstool and towards the bantering pair.

“I’ll dance with you sweetheart!”

It was clear from the slur in the man’s voice and the way his body swayed that he was a few beers past drunk. Ray wasn’t a macho man, but he respected women and wasn’t afraid to make that known when necessary. He felt his body coil as he fought back the urge to march over there. He would wait to see if he was needed before letting his pride get ahead of him.

“My dance card is all filled up for the night, but thanks for the offer!”

She was already twirling away, and Ray felt himself relax slightly. Until the man turned his sights on the other woman still standing near him. One large hand clapped onto her shoulder causing her knees to buckle slightly under the weight. Ray couldn’t stop himself now. Not when she looked at the man with fear widened eyes, her bright birthday sash slipping off of the shoulder he pawed.

“How ‘bout you, sweet thing? I got a birthday present right here for you.”

His other hand reached down to grip the front of his pants as he thrust his hips forward. The birthday girl shrank even further into herself. Ray saw red. And apparently, so did the woman on the bar.

“Hey, asshole! Get the fuck away from her!”

No more dancing, the woman on the bar strode forward with so much anger she was practically vibrating with it. The guy sneered at her and Ray could see his fingertips dig into the birthday girl’s shoulder. He didn’t need to hear her whimper. He could see it in the way her lips trembled. He was almost close enough to haul the son of a bitch away. Just a few more steps. The woman on the bar didn’t hesitate.

“Get your filthy hands off of my sister!”

The words were a battle cry as she launched herself off of the bar top, body slamming into the man who was already less than steady on his feet. They crashed into the ground in a tangle of limbs.

“Rose!”

The scream wasn’t playful this time. The birthday girl had stumbled back into the closest wall, her sister pushing her way to standing as the man under her started to lash out.

“You crazy bitch!”

Rose stumbled and nearly fell again as the man attempted to sweep her feet out from under her. Ray had seen enough. He stepped in between the two, catching Rose around her waist and bodily hauling her behind him. His foot moved to press against the man’s chest, pinning him to the floor. He surprised himself with his actions and the words that followed.

“We can do this nicely, or you can keep pushing and get your ass kicked.”

The statement was about as far from go-with-the-flow as you could get. He watched the man process for a minute, could tell the moment he decided to fight back. Ray didn’t actually want to get kicked out of his favorite bar, so instead of giving in to his baser desires, he applied more pressure on the man’s chest. The fight drained out of him as fast as his breath did. He kept the weight up for a second longer, turning to the women behind him. Rose had moved away to comfort her sister. Both of them were staring at him with wide eyes, but he couldn’t quite decipher the emotion behind it. Instinct took over again. He removed his foot from the shitstain it was stuck to, drawing a $20 out of his back pocket and dropping it on the bar.

“Sorry for the mess, Antonio. Tell the guys I’ll catch them next week.”

The bartender gave him a look that easily communicated Ray was only getting a pass right now because of his status as a regular that generally didn’t cause a ruckus. He gave a quick nod of thanks. The sisters had moved closer to the door, Rose being nearly dragged out by the other woman. Ray plucked up his courage and followed them, slipping ahead just in time to hold the door for them. The birthday girl startled and turned curious eyes on him, but Rose gave him a thorough once over. He felt his cheeks warm under her inspection. They lingered outside as he closed the door firmly behind him. He opened his mouth to say something, offer some kind of explanation, when he was cut off by a shrill screech.

“Rosa, what the hell?! Tonight was supposed to be _fun!_ _Dios mio,_ I can’t take you _anywhere!_ ”

“I’m sorry, Vic, but it’s not like you were gonna do anything! That guy was being a total piece of shit, and you were just gonna let him! _Puto pendajo._ ”

Rose spit the words like they were poison. Ray had never found anything more attractive. She was like a goddess, lit up with rage, glowing with a golden shine underneath the dim streetlights. The fury in her eyes could sink a hundred battle ships.

“You don’t have to fight every battle for me! There was a nice guy perfectly willing to stand up for us!”

Two pairs of brown eyes turned to him, one shining with admiration, the other bitterly annoyed. Unfortunately, it wasn’t Rose who was admiring him. He held up his hands defensively, taking a small step back as he shook his head.

“Hey, no, no, no. Your sister is right, and she definitely did not need my help. I just didn’t want my favorite bar getting smashed up by a drunken oaf who didn’t know how to lose gracefully. Any guy trying to play prince charming in a bar isn’t gonna be worth your time anyway.”

“Oh, you mean like you just tried to do?”

Rose’s response was so fast Ray got whiplash turning to meet her eyes. His blood ran cold, the shot he so desperately wanted to take slipping from his grasp before he even got a chance to line it up. Then, he caught the slight tease at the edges of her smile. It was enough to have him scrambling for a pithy reply.

“I like to think of myself more like Han Solo. I’d rather have someone to fight alongside.”

The playful smile took over her lips entirely. Vaguely, he registered her sister letting out a huff and throwing her hands up in defeat. He was too enthralled by the way Rose was looking at him to break their connection. His own smile grew to match hers.

“I’m Rose. This is my sister Victoria. Thank you for stopping that before it got out of hand. It wouldn’t have been much of a birthday celebration if we had ended up in jail.”

Ray couldn’t help the laugh that burst from his lips. Something about Rose made him feel invincible.

“Happy to be of service. I’m Ray.”

It shouldn’t have come as a surprise that he fell a little bit in love with her that very night. Something about Rose was magnetic, drawing in everyone around her. Ray had been completely dazzled by her. That was just something she seemed to do. Dazzle the people around her. Leave their head swimming with warmth and sunshine and a desire for more. Ray was no exception, despite how obvious it was that Rose was pretty much completely out of his league. He didn’t let that stop him from befriending the sisters.

In the aftermath of Victoria’s ruined birthday bar crawl, Ray had stepped up and escorted them to a nearby street taco stand. They had gotten to know each other in between bites of _carne asada_ tacos and creamy _elot_ _é_ scooped out of a Styrofoam cup _._ Even Victoria had softened by the end of the evening. When they parted ways, it was with a promise to keep in touch, and miraculously, they had.

The sisters slipped easily into his friend group, bringing their own friends along for the ride. Victoria wasn’t nearly as fiery as Rose, but Ray found her quiet mothering of her friends and fierce loyalty to the ones she loved endearing instead of smothering. She could certainly hold her own against her sister or anyone else for that matter. Vic might seem quiet, but she had a quick wit and an equally sharp tongue. She hadn’t ever forgotten the way he stopped the fight on her birthday, or the way he had made sure the evening wasn’t a total bust. He knew she would be the first one he could call if he needed something. Their friendship had slipped naturally into a sibling-style affection. His relationship with Rose felt different. He absolutely did _not_ see her as a sister.

Rose was the sun around which he wanted to orbit. She was light and love and passion and drive and just the most incredible human he had ever had the honor of meeting. He could spend hours in her presence, and it would feel like only minutes had passed. They could talk about anything and everything, sometimes causing the rest of their friends to groan and disengage when they got lost on a tangent together. Ray regularly felt like the world shrunk down to just the two of them when he was with Rose. Sometimes, it felt like she could feel the difference too. She would glance at him out of the corner of her eye when everyone else was distracted, or her smile would soften just for him. Those fleeting moments were what finally forced him to grow a pair and ask her out. He had stumbled his way through the question, shocked by her enthusiastic response.

“ _S_ _í,_ yes, I would love to go on a date with you!”

Her voice had sparkled, a delighted laugh springing from her rosebud lips like she had been waiting ages for him to ask. Ray had been blinded by her brilliance. That was probably why he hadn’t actually come up with something for them to _do_ on said date. Mr. Go-With-The-Flow was regretting his inability to take control now. Leave it to him to fumble at the last second. He had shown up at her door with a bouquet of dahlias **not** roses, _thank god for Vic_ , and when she asked where they were going with that special soft smile his mind drew a complete blank.

“Uhh, where would you like to go? Are you hungry? The night is yours to command.”

She had laughed, the sound twinkling in the twilight of the evening. Then, she turned to him with mischief dancing in her eyes. Ray was at her mercy, willing to do literally anything she asked of him. How could he possibly say no to a literal angel?

“Do you wanna go on a backstage tour of The Orpheum?”

“Absolutely.”

Ray had nearly tripped over himself in his haste to agree. He knew she worked there part-time because of course she had a cool side gig on top of playing in a couple different local bands. She used it to network and try to promote her own music when possible. And getting to see tons of bands preform didn’t suck, even if she was working. The fact that she was offering him a chance to step a little more into her world made him feel giddy. He only hoped that he could keep up with her wild spirit long enough to convince her to let him stick around forever. However, the last thing he had expected was to find himself ducking behind dumpsters in various alleyways around downtown LA not even two hours later.

“Rose, _que paso?!_ I thought you said we were fine because you had keys! Don’t you work there? Didn’t you know there would be an alarm?!”

He was trying very hard not to sound mad because he wasn’t really _mad_. It was practically impossible for him to get mad at her when he hadn’t stopped to question if it was actually okay for them to be there unannounced or not. He was just panicking a little bit and trying not to let it show. This was their first date and so far it felt like he was _massively_ screwing it up. Rose winced a bit, pulling him closer to her behind the dumpster as red and blue lights briefly illuminated her face. At least the cops had turned the sirens off, even if they were still roaming the streets for the hooligans that had broken into The Orpheum. And by hooligans he meant himself and Rose.

“I _do_ work there, just...I haven’t had a shift in a while? I didn’t know about the alarm, I swear! They must have added that since my last shift a month ago. I guess we technically did some breaking and entering?”

Her teeth peeked out to bite down on her bottom lip as she frowned. Ray sighed, the movement causing their chests to brush for just a moment. His gaze drifted from her eyes down to her lips and back. Rose shifted slightly, moving her hands up from their grip on his jacket collar to wrap around the back of his neck.

“I’m sorry, Ray. I didn’t mean to ruin our date.”

Her voice was soft, the sound drawing him in closer until their noses were practically touching. He didn’t care about the cops anymore. Didn’t care about the possibility of getting caught and thrown in jail. He didn’t even care if he ended up locked up for the rest of his life. It had been worth it to have this moment with Rose. In fact, he would do the entire thing all over again if it meant ending up this close to her.

“You didn’t ruin anything, Rosa.”

Her breathing hitched at the nickname, falling so affectionately from his lips. He glanced at her mouth again, felt like he might burst when he saw her lips part ever so slightly so she could wet them with the tip of her tongue. Her eyelids fell to half mast, her own gaze slipping down as well. Ray didn’t stop to think about his next words.

“Can I kiss you?”

He hadn’t even fully finished the question before it was being smothered underneath the pressure of Rose’s mouth against his. He drew her close, reveling in the feeling of her body pressed against his. Their lips moved together in an effortless dance, like they had been made to kiss each other. Ray saw stars behind his eyes, heard angels in his head that sounded an awful lot like when Rose was singing. He drew back for a moment, meeting her gaze before he leaned in to place another kiss on her lips, followed by one on each cheek, and one on her nose. She giggled, the sound shooting straight to his heart. Her face nuzzled into his neck, lips hot against his pulse.

_“Rose.”_

Saying her name felt like a prayer. If Ray were to die in this moment, he would die the happiest he had ever been in his entire life. Rose pulled away from her hiding place, pressing their foreheads together as he drowned in the depths of her brown eyes.

“I can’t believe it took you so long to ask me out. I’ve been missing out on _that_ all this time?”

Ray couldn’t help the laugh that burst forth. Rose frantically hushed him with a kiss, and he melted into her completely. Time felt meaningless, an unknown amount of it passing as they lost themselves in each other. Eventually it got cold enough for Ray to remember where they were.

“I haven’t seen any lights in a while. Think we can maybe make our way home?”

Rose blinked like she had also forgotten about their unconventional make-out location. Her eyes darted to either side of the alleyway and then back to his face.

“Only if ‘home’ is your apartment. Vicky’s already in bed and she’ll throw a fit if we wake her up.”

Ray felt hot from head to toe. He flexed his grip around Rose’s waist for just a second and then let go and stood to help her up. He pulled her close, tucking her smaller frame under his arm so that their bodies were pressed tightly together.

“Absolutely.”

She smiled up at him, eyes twinkling like that line was going to become an inside joke between them. Ray’s heart skipped a beat. _Was it possible to fall in love with someone in a single night?_ They slowly made their way to the closest bus stop, occasionally slipping into an alley or two for a quick kiss that was hardly ever actually quick. Ray wasn’t above pretending he saw a flash of lights in the distance for an excuse to pull her close in the shadows for a long moment. It took longer than it should have for them to make it to his door, lips swollen and red from all their distractions.

When she fell asleep next to him a few hours later, Ray realized he felt safe in a way he never had with another person before. He tucked Rose’s body close against his and listened to his heartbeat roaring in his ears. It didn’t sound the same, like something about being with Rose had changed him fundamentally. It beat strong and steady: _homehomehome._ For the rest of his life, Rose would live in the space she had created for herself in his soul. Ray closed his eyes, drifting to sleep with a smile on his face and the sound of forever repeating in his head.

**Author's Note:**

> Not me projecting aspects of Luke's personality onto 20-something Ray🤭
> 
> Also, if you came from strength/melody, yes this is also the story of Victoria's birthday that is referenced in Chapter 7. I did have to go back and edit that line slightly because I realized I didn't actually want them to go to jail lol
> 
> I tried my hardest not to refer to Victoria or Rose as a 'girl' because I find that super infantilizing when talking about adults, however "birthday woman" just does not have the same ring as "birthday girl" so. Sorry about that.
> 
> I'm also not a native or fluent Spanish speaker and I'm much better at understanding it than speaking it so please feel free to correct me in the comments if I messed anything up! I'm always happy to correct phrasing/words or delete them entirely if I've used them incorrectly!


End file.
